Wednesday, June 17, 2009

...because I thought it'd be useful to have gather/organize my twitter updates in a medium that is more stable and less easily spammed. The main purpose of these posts are to spread awareness and information, promote free speech and human rights. If anyone wants to add to it, send me linkz!

Where to go for Information

Anonymous has proven to be more than just an internet meme and troll by hosting forums on a protest website. They organize information on the protests, post advice, instructions, and materials for people that are interested in supporting the cause ( Pirate Bay has changed their logo to lead to the site.) Recently posted (Jun17 10:58pm) was a current event news brief which included specific updates which ended in a hopeful note:

"It seems that the Green Revolution has garnered the support of HashemiRafsanjani, NateqNoori, Tabatabayee and other prominent clerics and politicians. The RohaniyoneMubarez organization that which has in its ranks pretty much most of the clerics except for the ones in power and includes Mr. Rafsanjani and Mr. Noori has declared their support for the annulment of the election and holding of new elections. Ayatollah Montazeri has yet to declare clear support."

The website has also posted a Worldwide Protest Event (yes, you can attend it on facebook too)

For more general information, you can always count on Wikipedia! I'm sure the page on Iran Election 2009 is going to be controversial (and have somewhat disputed accuracy), but it still offers an expanse of frequently updated and reviewed information.

And, if TL;DR texts are scaring people off, Washington Post streams a few short 'n sweet videos about "what is happening in Iran." Also, Wall Street Journal has posted a slideshow of pictures of mass protests from the streets of Tehran to last night's soccer game.

What you can do to help

1. Set up a proxy on your computer. This allows information to continue to flow out of the country where it has been blocked or slowed. Basically- keep Iranians connected! Instructions here.

3. Ask Google to change their logo for one day as a way to increase awareness across the web by voting or contacting Google Press.

4. If you are on Twitter, you can show support by changing your location and timezone to Tehran, Iran ( both a gesture of encouragement AND a way to inundate authorities trying to monitor information coming out of Iran) and by overlaying your icon with green, done easily here and added to a green wall of support here.

5. Spread the links found here to other people! Information is powerful :)

Also, http://whereismyvote.org/ is looking for a web developer to help them better organize their site- "PHP, CSS JAVA, DRUPAL." DirectMessage them on twitter for details.

Misc.

New York Times has been liveblogging the events and conversations concerning Iran, offering an up to date perspective on what is going on.

Articles (1-TEDblog, 2-MSNBC) discussing the massive twitter/socialnetworking response to the Iran conflict. Is this just a web fad or if it has potential to be a serious source of information dispersion? I guess only time will tell.

Eeven though this isn't breaking news, here's a beautiful motion graphic short: "Iran, a Nation of Bloggers (2008)" Very reminiscent of the animation used in the film "Persepolis" which I highly recommend to anyone interested in learning more about Iran's political past from a civilian's perspective. (imdb, watch online!)

& Soapbox:

Though I can't promise complete accuracy, I assure you that I'm wading through the mountains of information being splooged all over the twitter and trying to find valid sources. Keep in mind, however that in an anonymous information war, credibility is never certain. Anyhow, like I said before, the main goal is to spread awareness of the situation. The Iranian people deserve to be heard!